Star profile
HIP 17342
Highly luminous starWhat is HIP 17342
In Camelopardalis shines a luminous orange giant whose light has been on its way for more than two thousand years. When it set out, the Roman Empire was spreading under Augustus and aqueducts were being raised in Hispania that still stand today. It is a colossal K-type star, far larger and brighter than the Sun, capable of lighting our sky from a distance few visible stars surpass. Its glow is a slow postcard from antiquity, received now in a world that has long forgotten the Latin once spoken beneath it.
Where it is and when to see it
HIP 17342 lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is December, when it culminates around midnight.
- From London it never sets and culminates about 82° up.
- From New York it never sets and culminates about 71° up.
- From Sydney it never rises above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere north of 30° S.
It ranks no. 53 in brightness among the 75 stars of Camelopardalis in our catalogue. To find it, start from Beta Camelopardalis, the brightest: it lies about 10° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 2,100 years ago.
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A public signature from a real person. The chosen name is a symbolic denomination within Stelvia, with no official standing or IAU recognition: the sky is not for sale and belongs to no one.
Astronomical data for HIP 17342
- Constellation
- Camelopardalis
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.74
- Distance
- 2064.6 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 55.678° · Dec 59.969°
- Catalogue
- HIP 17342 · HD 22764
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Camelopardalis
Camelopardalis has 75 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- Beta Camelopardalis4.03
- HIP 162284.21
- Alpha Camelopardalis4.26
- HIP 199685.69
- HIP 338275.69
- HIP 199835.72
- HIP 655955.74
- HIP 229365.75